A Synge in Time
by jhenrhi.ida
Summary: Tara Synge wakes up 3600 years in the future of her time, the only thing she remembered was a bright white flash and red blood splatters. Now she has to make it in a seemingly new galaxy, but everything acts the same. [Inspired by Time Displaced Sith, by OfficerDonNZ. Re-uploaded to fix some inconsistencies - sorry!]
1. Time Displaced: Chapter 1

**TIME DISPLACED**

Tara sat on the edge of the medical bed with a heavy blanket around her shoulders. She had her knees up and was resting her chin on them as she tried to calm the fury that her mind was in. Her eyes stung with the remnants of blindness that was resultant of carbonite freezing and her chest hurt as she concentrated on getting her lungs to breathe in oxygen. Her body was weak and she could feel it and it only made sense that it came from the carbonite.

She tried to figure out what was going on. The last thing she could recall herself doing was… she couldn't remember. She reached up and massaged her temples before she felt her hair. It was thick and partially matted and she groaned. She rubbed her face and tired to think, tried to calm herself, tried to do… _something._

"What the kriff is going on?" she asked aloud. No one was there to hear her or answer her.

No one was there… Tara had trouble believing that this was the case. When she came out of the carbonite she heard those around her mumbling how something as old as that block couldn't possibly have a living entity within it. Tara didn't know how old "old" was but she automatically didn't like the connotations of the murmurs and comments as they whisked her away to the infirmary and there she sit while she waits. Her clothes were taken away and she was given medical robes to wear in the meantime. Her weapons were taken as well as her datapad and anything else she had on her person at the time.

She didn't have much, now that she thought more about it. In fact, she didn't have a datapad at all. She remembered waking up previously in a room with her hands bound in electronic cuffs. Her headset was removed, her blaster was confiscated and her datapad was taken but for whatever unknown reason she was allowed to keep her lightsaber. Crazy logic but later on she was glad she had it.

The recall of the bright, blinding light and energy of a push of destructive power made her head hurt and Tara went back to massaging her forehead and pushing on different pressure points on her skull to relieve the pain and the pressure. She gave her neck a few quick snaps to the left and right and that helped to loosen her shoulders some but there was still that nagging irritation at the base of her skull. She opened her eyes again and squinted through the blur as best she could. That would take a while before it went away just because of the nature of the side effect.

Tara put her feet down on the floor and went to stand up. Bad idea – she immediately lost her balance and she wobbled and fell to the ground. Without the blanket around her it could have hurt more than it had and she contented herself to just laying there. Somewhere in the back of her mind Nathrrya would probably tell her at this point to quit being dramatic. Tara has to smile at the thought of the redhead but then she frowned. Where was Nathrrya?

She had to figure this out. She stayed where she was and tried to force herself to remember something beyond the bright light. She pulled images from her mind, digging deeper and deeper into her memory regardless of what was blocking it. It was the Eternal Throne, and a Force user not designated Sith nor Jedi. He was royalty, acknowledged as a prince by those that were escorting them to the Emperor.

The Emperor. Valkorion had taken a new host, had a new body and a new name. Tara would forever know him as Vitiate and bits and pieces of her knowledge of the Sith Emperor came back to her. She served him faithfully, blindly almost, and had it not been for Nathrrya she would never have broken the control that the Emperor had on her life.

 _"You were the extension of my wrath, K'natara."_

The woman opened her eyes and even in the blur she could make out the outline of another figure in the room with her. She sat up from the floor and pulled herself to her feet. Still wobbly she used the bed to lean against and give her support. She turned and even though she couldn't see, she was sure he could see the disdain on her face.

"To hell with you," she said. "You abandoned your empire and left it in shambles, with nothing but power plays and betrayal."

 _"As has always been the way of the Sith. It would only have been a matter of time before my Eternal Throne took over both the Sith and Republic. You were vital to that transition, yet you raised your blade to me."_

"You killed millions!" she screamed, the anger building. "You destroyed Ziost! You sacrificed the life force of all those helpless people and that is not gaining the support of the multitude of the empire that you say you built. I don't care what your plans were, it needed to end."

 _"Not all those souls were innocent and my empire gave rise to the best warriors of your generation,"_ Valkorion said. He began to walk around the room, his hands clasped behind his back in a regal manner. The more Tara observed she opened herself to the Force and that's when she felt it.

"You're dying," she said. "You're actually dying this time."

 _"The galaxy in which you find yourself is not the one I had envisioned. It's gone so far beyond the control and whims of the many that it, too, will eventually die. Feel the energy around you, K'natara. Sense the imbalance within the Force and you will understand more."_

She reserved herself at first but did as she was told. It wasn't hard to feel the imbalance that he mentioned and she frowned. There was more to what he was telling her. "What have you done, Valkorion?"

 _"I have sustained you within your carbonite prison to allow you to survive its effects for nearly three thousand years—"_

"Three thousand!?" Tara felt lightheaded. "Wh-what are you talking about?"

 _"You were going to die had I not,"_ he continued, seemingly ignoring her question. _"I have given you my life in the hopes that you could do something significant."_

"You're not making any kriffing sense, you shriveled old idiot."

Valkorion smirked and chuckled at the lame attempt to insult him. Tara was still reeling from the news of time span and the yet undetermined meaning this held for the woman. The emperor turned to Tara and walked up to her. She felt him approach and tried to move away but she stopped when she found herself cornered. She cursed herself and the effects of the carbonite on her eyes. The emperor reached his hand up and covered her eyes briefly and then stepped back.

Tara was confused. "Why did you do that?" She blinked her eyes a few times and looked around her. She saw clearer than she ever had before, and she was a healthy young woman. She took in the medical room she was in, the color of the grey floor, the empty bacta tank in the far corner, the bed with the messy sheets, even the box sitting on the table near the bed that she didn't notice before. She looked back and the ghostly image of the emperor. "You're not going to give me any more help or answers, are you?"

 _"What would be the fun in that?"_

Slowly Valkorion began to disappear from Tara's view and with his weakening Force signature she felt her own strengthening and she took a deep breath. Now alone – completely – in the medical room she had a moment to herself to considers what little Valkorion had told her and how unhelpful he was. She growled in minor frustration.

"Old habits die hard," she told herself. Tara moved over to the table to see what the box was and found within it a number of her personal effects. One by one she pulled out bags of clothing – her leather pants, her tunic and breastplate, her overcoat and her boots. All of it was custom made and gifted to her by Nathrrya for no other reason than she wanted to. Another bag pulled from the bottom held what remained of her lightsaber and Tara's mood disintegrated. It would take her weeks to build a new one and she frowned deeper when she didn't find her kyber crystal.

"Damn it… Nathrrya what do I do?" Tara closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She let it out with a laugh when she realized that what Nathrrya would do and what she would do are two completely different things. If anything Nathrrya's actions would keep her alive a lot longer than Tara's, but Tara liked her ways better. She opened her eyes and settled herself.

"Sorry Nat, I'm gonna cause some trouble. You'll be so proud of me."


	2. Time Displaced: Chapter 2

Trouble was exactly what Tara found herself in. When the doctor overseeing her recovery came to see her she became irritated when a Chiss Admiral came with him to try and ask her questions. Something about a Darth Vader came to the surface and any question she asked was skirted or not answered at all.

She growled and paced in the holding cell that she was placed in by the security of the ship she was on. As she came to one of the walls she kicked it, harder than she meant, and hopped a little before falling on her rear end on the bench.

"Spast!"

The pain subsided quickly enough and she crossed her knee over the other and folded her arms under her bust. She had to rethink her plan. She could hear Nathrrya's voice now.

" _That's what you get for being a hothead, Tara."_

"Yes, Nat… I know." She thumped the back of her head against the metallic wall a few times out of habit and took a breath. She needed to think more like Nathrrya and less like herself. Hell, she could even go back to being the way she was when she was married to…

No. No way was she going to be thinking about that right then. She didn't have time and the holding cell wasn't the place for her to bring those ideas and thoughts to the surface. She needed to get out of there first. Almost as if on queue the door opened and in walked a very large, very black figure. Tara stayed seated as two troopers came in behind the behemoth figure with their blasters at the ready. She had to frown.

"I'm weaponless," she said. "Is that really necessary?"

The figure was masked and Tara looked up into the eyes of the visor on his helmet. There was a deep, rhythmic mechanical breathing coming from him and Tara tilted her head back in contemplation while she examined him more thoroughly. She reached out lightly with the Force and pressed up against him with it, and he lashed back a bit, only enough to put her in her place. She retracted and brought with her enough of a glance into this mysterious figure.

"I take it you want to know who I am, right?" she said.

"Among other things." His voice was deep and mechanical, like his breathing, and it was a slow kind of speech. He wasn't in a hurry from the way he spoke and Tara wasn't sure if this was a good thing or a bad one. Not yet at least.

"Well, fine. But I would like to be released from this cell. I'm not going anywhere, I can't do anything and assuming you know as much as the Chiss did then I don't see why I can't speak to you somewhere more comfortable."

"You're not in a position to make any demands."

"I didn't say it was a demand," she countered. "It was a suggestion." She looked him up and down again and unfolded her arms. She sat forward and kept her outward presence as calm as possible. "If you're in agreement?"

The man considered it. "I am Darth Vader," he finally said. "You, on the other hand, don't seem to exist."

"I'm apparently over three millennia old – ancient to say the least," she said. She stood up but this didn't do much to change the height difference between them. She was still a short woman, only about five feet and a few inches tall compared to his six-plus feet. "I am Lady Synge, daughter of former Dark Council Member Darth Nox and former apprentice of Darth Avarice, Emperor's Wrath."

Sometimes your name and titles are all you have to play. In her case this was the utter truth and she knew she was taking a risk throwing them willy-nilly out like she just did. It's what Nathrrya would most likely do… but she had a prominent Sith family to back her up. She came from… well, when it came to Darth Nox Tara was usually left alone because Nox wasn't the kind of Sith you crossed for any reason.

"If you dig in your records far enough you will learn that Darth Nox is a descendent of Lord Kallig, and thus I am as well, if your records go back that far. Lord Kallig was ancient in my time."

Vader turned his head towards one of the troopers behind him. Somehow there was a universal understanding that this needed to be followed up and the trooper bowed and left his partner to have the data checked by the archeological service.

"You are clearly Force sensitive, and your lightsaber confirms as much."

"I was trained in the Dark Side since I was a young girl at the Sith Academy on Korriban and then on Dromund Kaas." She rolled up the sleeve of her left arm and showed off her forearm. Her skin looked to have been branded and even though it was very small it was distinct. The small circle was the symbol of the Empire. "I was captured by a renegade Republic captain and he marked me because I had been under cover, spying on them. When a leak broke my façade he had me marked so I couldn't do it so easily. Needless to say he didn't last very long when my master got involved. I could have had it fixed but I liked it."

She rolled her sleeve back down and hoped that what she had said was enough. She realized she was giving a lot of free information a lot easier than she normally would, but she was technically being held by, what she considered, her own side but she wasn't going to say anything about the other side of her life unless she really needed to. She folded her arms again and stood straighter, pushing her shoulders back and setting her jaw firmly. Her deep green eyes bore into Vader's visor and she resisted the urge to shudder. She hated masks. To her only cowards and liars wore them. For some reason she had the sense that Vader was neither.

"Is any of that sufficient enough for me to be let out of this cage?" she finally asked. She frowned as she looked at the black-clad man. It was still unnerving that she couldn't see his face.

"Until I get confirmation of your claims you will remain under strict security, but I will allow you to move to the quarters we set up for you. It will be under surveillance until further notice." He turned to the remaining trooper. "Escort her to those quarters. Do not leave her alone."

He turned and left the cell and Tara watched on in confusion as he did so. Somehow she must have missed something because she thought there would have been a little more back and forth between them before this would have been determined. She shrugged it off and followed the trooper as he pointed the way with his rifle.

"Don't try anything," he warned her. Tara had to roll her eyes.

"Please, I'm on thin ice as it is. Besides, you and your brethren don't pose a challenge to me."

 _You're all probably still as idiotic as the ones I dealt with in my time, anyway._

"Watch your tongue. Now move."

She thought it would be better to keep her mouth shut for the time being anyway. She walked out of the cell and two other soldiers guided her through the halls and corridors of the ship and down several levels in one of the lifts. As she walked by the windows she could tell that the ship was now in hyperspace, though she wasn't sure where they were headed. When the lift opened she was guided through several more halls until she came to a room.

The door was opened and the soldiers moved aside to let her in. It was about twice the size of the cell she had just come from, scantly furnished and very dreary. She wasn't expecting lavishness but at least it was warm and more comfortable than the cell. And it had a fresher and over in a corner was a clear box with her belongings – clothes, boots and whatever else she had. When she turned around the door was closed and she heard a lock engage.

She rolled her eyes, again, and turned her attention to what was in the room. There was a bed made with simplistic beddings, the lights could be adjusted and a small table in the corner with a chair held a tray of decent food. She ignored it all for the moment and made a beeline for the fresher and immediately started the water flowing. Soon the small space was thickened with steam as she peeled off the medical clothes she had been put in.

A sigh of relief left her lips as she stepped under the scalding water. Her ghostly white skin flushed pink from the high temperature of the water but she loved it. The stress in her shoulders and neck melted away and she worked on scrubbing the grime off her skin and getting it out of her hair. A few thousand years in carbonite did not do anything for her and the longer she was in the shower the more she felt herself come back to life.

With clean hair and a clean body she shut off the water, dried herself off and went out into the main room. With the towel wrapped around herself she grabbed some of the fruit from her dinner tray and munched on it as she sat on the bed and opened the box. Holding the fruit in her mouth she picked up the top bag and frowned the best she could with the food in her mouth. Her lightsaber hilt was practically destroyed on the outside and she was certain the inner mechanisms had to have been just as bad. She didn't even see her kyber crystal in the bag or the box and this irritated her.

Her under garments were in decent condition and looked to have been thoroughly cleaned and some repairs made. Her slacks, shirt and boots sat on top of the breastplate and below that was her trench coat. All of it looked almost new, thanks to whoever must have been on laundry detail. She tossed the towel and threw everything on but the heavy armor, coat and boots. She put those and the bag with her saber back into the box. Going back to her dinner she sat there quietly eating what she was given.

Tara's mind was more on what she knew up to this point, and that wasn't much. She didn't have anything to dissect or evaluate and she doubt she would for a while, at least not until her claims are verified and at Vader's satisfaction. There was no telling how long that would take but it left her alone and in relative comfort for now until a plan could be devised.

 _There is no plan beyond play nice,_ she thought to herself. _This is like any other mission where you're kidnapped. The only difference is that Nat and Leyland aren't here to help._

The thought stabbed her chest and the pain washed over her unexpectedly. She got up and went over to the bed and laid down upon it, hoping that it would help alleviate the effects that one little thought had on her. The stress and tension she had before the shower came back in full and it was everything she could do to keep from crying. It wasn't the time and certainly not the place for this. She had to control the emotions.

Breathing… she concentrated on her breathing. It was an old trick Nathrrya taught her, who in turn learned it from her Jedi cousin. It helped. More than Tara liked to admit she actually found the technique useful and had used it a number of times when Nathrrya wasn't around to cool her jets and help her keep the Dark Side under control. Tara could thank her history for this near-uncontrollable ability to let the Dark Side go.

Once she felt like she wasn't going to explode she stared up at the bland ceiling. Allowing her vision to blur and go out of focus the pattern on the ceiling shifted and changed before her and she found herself lost in the imagined shapes and swirls.

It was bullshit parenting for the most part that caused her condition. She wasn't able to trust anyone, not even the masters at the Academy. Her first master – Darth Baras – only used her for her power and cared nothing for her wellbeing. She was a pawn in all of his affairs and this mixed her up in a nasty situation with Nathrrya, who she had to kill under his orders.

Her own mother, seated on the Dark Council, watched as Nathrrya gutted the fat bastard and put an end to him. Tara had no clue at the time that it was her own mother sitting on one of the seats and hidden behind the mask of Lord Kallig, her ancestor. Not once did she think to touch base with her only living child. Only when Tara got mixed up and involved with a Mandalorian merc did she become part of her life.

Captain Malavai Quinn was the only constant in her life. He was her father, the first parent she ever had and the only one she stayed with until her Force sensitivity came to the point where it was too much for her and Quinn to deal with. As much as she could tell he didn't want to, he had to leave her at the Sith Academy on Korriban and she would never forget the look on his face as he watched her be escorted away from the landing pad towards the Academy. Quinn was the one thing that meant the most to her.

When she learned of his involvement with Nathrrya, and after seeing how screwed up Baras had her, Tara was able to break free of Baras' hold and felt like she got some freedom back. The whole encounter gave her a completely different view on the Sith Code and decided that it wasn't completely true. She followed Nathrrya after that as an unofficial apprentice and eventually they became very good friends and Nathrrya married her father.

She missed them. It was only a matter of maybe hours since she was released from carbonite and already she was having trouble assimilating. As much as she wanted to dwell on these thoughts and cry and destroy things she had to keep her control long enough to get more information and figure out what the spast she was going to do. The sound of the door unlocking and the hydraulics activiating made her sit up and turn towards the door. Someone she hadn't seen before came in and stopped dead in his tracks when his eyes met hers.

Starkiller was skeptical about this girl when his master, Lord Vader, mentioned her. He was to collect her from her room and bring her to Vader's personal ship so she could be transported to the Imperial Captial. When he entered the room what he saw was not what he was expecting.

The woman was gorgeous, for one thing. He'd seen other women as exotic as her with very pale skin and extremely dark hair and sharp, solid eyes greener than anything he's seen in the galaxy. It took only seconds to take every inch of her in before he cleared his head and reminded himself of why he was here at all.

"I am Starkiller," he said, trying to keep his voice neutral and uninterested. "I'm to bring you to my master. Grab your things and come with me."

Something about this new person irked Tara and she wasn't afraid to let it be shown through a frown on her face. She considered tapping into the Force to bring the Dark Side up but this wasn't the right time. She was still sick, not having been that long outside of carbonite, and she was having a challenge just trying to keep her mental shields raised and kept in place.

For once she decided not to give this person a hard time. He was Force-sensitive… and rather good looking… but she didn't want to bother with that at the moment. She did as she was told and collected the box with her belongings, and the small things that used to be her belongings, and followed Starkiller out of her small room and back into the hallway.

"So, why does your master need to see me again?" she asked, her eyes glancing out of a small viewport as she passed it. "Did he verify my identity?"

"Shut up and just keep walking."

Oh hell no. Tara stopped and snarled, her face becoming angry. Starkiller turned around to face her and put his hand over one of his lightsaber hilts.

"Will you quit the tough-guy act with me? I'm weaponless and my presence is not a secret. Vader is checking into my past to verify who I am and once he does then your worst nightmare will be the least of your worries. Now be polite and just tell me and I'll calm down."

Starkiller wasn't sure of her intentions and he was reluctant to say anything to someone he doesn't trust, especially one without a history.

"My master made arrangements to bring you before the Emperor. That is all I am at liberty to say. He made it known that only he will be dealing with you for the most part until further notice. Now come on."

He waited for her to move and when she did he let her pass ahead of him and he followed. Tara could feel him behind her basically staring at her back. She was nervous about having him to her back, and considering the predicament she was in she would have to assume the same for him with her being at his. She wouldn't complain.

 _Okay, I'm off to see the emperor. Let's see what I'm dealing with._


	3. Time Displaced: Chapter 3

The Imperial Center was not what Tara had been expecting. She watched as the planet grew in size as the shuttle neared the surface, and the look on her face was a mixture of disbelief, fear, sadness and with a hint of regret. Starkiller sat at the co-pilot's controls while Tara stared out of the viewport and Vader was in the doorway.

"So, it only took an emperor three-thousand years to finally capture and hold onto Coruscant?" It was a near-whisper and not meant for comment or conversation. Neither Vader nor Starkiller said anything in response and Tara rolled her eyes, more to herself than anything else.

She had only ever visited this system once before when she was tasked to escort her half-sister so she could infiltrate the SIS and feed them bad data to set up points on the planet for some obscure undercover mission. Tara didn't ask and Jaena didn't tell. When this was occurring she mostly saw the inside of a bunker while Jaena did all of the work. She was pulled out of the brief memory when the shuttle landed on the pad. The hissing of the hydraulics and the quiet buzz of the engines shutting down was the only sound in her ears for the moment.

"Apprentice, you will remain here with the ship while I take our… guest… to see the Emperor."

"Yes master."

Tara raised an eyebrow at the man as she headed towards the exit and she was certain she heard a bit of a whine from him. Once she and Vader left the ship and she was firmly on the landing pad did she actually sense what was going on around her. At the end of the pad was a transport waiting for them but Tara stopped and looked around at the city planet. She opened herself to the Force just to be sure and she didn't like it at all.

The Dark Side of the Force was permeated through the planet and to her trained eyes it left a hazy redness to the atmosphere, turning the planet an unnerving shade of crimson. When she was last on this planet it wasn't like this at all. After three thousand and some odd years she figured that maybe it would be expected. The Sith and the Empire were cunning and power hungry. It was only a matter of time before the Core Worlds fell to the faction. She turned her attention to Darth Vader and frowned at him before she followed behind and got into the transport. As soon as she was seated the driver took off.

"You are troubled by something?"

Tara, at first, wasn't paying attention to Vader. She blinked and turned her head to look at him. "There is such a Dark Side presence on this planet," she said. "The last time I was on Coruscant it wasn't anything like this. It was governed by the Republic Senate and the Jedi."

"It is the Imperial Center now," Vader corrected. "The Jedi of old are no more. They were weak and it was shown. The people gave up on them. It only made sense that it would become the seat of power for the Emperor."

"The Force is very off balance."

The pair said nothing more to one another for the duration of the ride to their destination. As they neared the large Imperial Palace it struck Tara in the gut when she saw where they were going. With no Jedi and no Republic to speak of the one place she ever knew to be basically drowning in the Light Side was now home to the Empire. The Jedi Temple was still the same as she once knew it from her time, having only seen it once when she was here with Jaena, but there were significant differences and the thick red aura around the structure was just the start of it.

As they came closer Tara's skin began to prickle. She took deep breaths, tried to calm her mind as she inhaled each breath. She was never good at controlling the Dark Side once it took a hold of her. Had it not been for Leyland and Nathrrya she would have wound up so entrenched in the Dark Side that she feared she would never return. Nathrrya was her lifeline, but that lifeline is no longer there.

" _Hang in there, kiddo. You'll be fine."_

Tara could hear Nathrrya's voice as clear as day and she looked around confused at first. Once the transport landed on the pad and Vader disembarked Tara had to pull her mind back together and follow. She could feel the weight of the Dark Side against her, begging her to open the box and plunge deep within it. It was hard, but she forced her body further and stood tall regardless. She had to remain strong, for her sake – because that's all she had left.

Tara only ever heard stories about the inside of the Jedi Temple. Once she had met Nathrrya's cousin, the Hero of Tython, and a well respected Jedi Knight within the Order. As far as Tara was concerned he could have been offered a seat on the Jedi Council and the last thing she remembered was that Grand Master Satele Shan was about to as well.

This was not that place. Vader guided her through the desolate hallways of the temple and she looked around her at the ancient stone and the improvemets that the Empire had done to the place. She's always envisioned a serene place, something comfortable and safe. What she was walking through now had no inkling of its former glory.

As the two turned a corner Tara's attention was drawn to a room off in the corner. Not caring that she stopped following Vader she veered off course and made her way to the door. It was an archway and on the other side was a double-storied room that seemed to have been, once, a training room. As she walked through it flashes of younglings and masters came and left her mind. Great excitement turned to fear and her head began to hurt. A dark shadow fell over her mind and she turned to see Vader standing behind her, nothing but his suit's mechanical sounds echoing in the space. She looked up into the black mask of the tall man and her mind raised a red flag.

"Do not walk off. I have no problem putting you in cuffs." Vader turned and Tara lingered, her head turning back to the room briefly. She held back a tear that threatened to drip from her eyes. She said nothing and followed without getting curious about the remainder of the rooms she passed, thought they all felt the same to her.

 _Spast, Nat… I need you, but I don't want you to know what's happened now._

The pair continued through the palace. The deeper they went the more Tara could feel the Dark Side closing in around her. She shoved it off her and tried to keep her mind calm, level, the way Nathrrya taught her to. It was helping, for now. One thing she became more aware of were the others. She didn't see them right away but she could sense each individual Force signature as they walked. One stuck out from the others. Curious, she opened herself to that signature and it retreated. She had to smirk, and then stopped because Nathrrya used to do that.

"Who was that?" she asked quietly. They maintained their pace with one another as they neared the end of the hall and approached a large set of doors. No doubt it had to be the throne room.

"Mara Jade. She happens to be a favorite of the Emperor and the more skilled of the Hand."

Tara scoffed. "The _Hand_? Please, don't make me laugh. I've dealt with the Hand before."

She quieted down as the large doors opened to a vast room with more space within these walls than it seemed to be in the rest of the palace. She looked up at the three-story tall room and the breadth of the location reminded her of the casino on Nar Shaddaa and the Thule palace on Alderaan. Seated before the full wall window in a throne and up on a dais was another black clad figure, hunched over in his seat and with his hood pulled over his head.

There was a saying about first impressions, and the impression that Tara received from this so-called emperor is that he was a shriveled white thing hiding behind younger Force-users that refused to show themselves. Her opinion was growing cynical as the moments drew on and her scowl was hard to suppress. As she and Vader came closer to the center of the room she locked eyes with the man sitting on the throne. His eyes were red and just to spite him she lowered her mental shields – she didn't care if this was a good idea or not - and allowed him to touch her mind. Her eyes went from green to gold.

"You are very strong in the Dark Side of the Force," Palpatine stated. Vader and Tara stopped in the center of the room. She didn't like how his shriveled lips formed that sort of hungry grin. Suddenly Tara was a lot more uncomfortable and she immediately put her shields back up. That wiped the grin off his face. "How long have you been Sith?"

Tara refrained from snickering, though she was feeling pompous. She kept herself chill for the moment. "The Sith were a race of red-skinned Dark Side users. They decided to mingle, much to the distaste of the more pure. I, myself, am not Sith. I am a human and my Force sensitivity is very strong… stronger than you and you don't like it."

The first problem with this emperor, that Tara was able to figure out, was that he was very safe in his seat of power. Because he felt safe, he didn't feel the need to hide his thoughts. When he touched her mind she was just as able to sneak into his and that was the first thing she came across: the Emperor was afraid of those more powerful than him. Her comment didn't go unnoticed and around her a few other black-clad figures stepped from the shadows, each of them with a hilt in their hand. The grin was gone from his lips now.

"You are too bold for your own good. I am afraid of nothing." His voice was raspy and it grated against her mind uncomfortably. She was getting irritated just being in the same room as him and her fingers itched for her lightsaber, which was dishearteningly absent. Tara could feel the Nathrrya inside her head telling her to calm down, but this was it. If she was already going to go down, then she was going to go down as herself the way she always was.

"I doubt that. You probably have it all locked away and tied with a pretty little bow and you're hiding behind those you control in some way or another."

"Enough! I will not tolerate your insolence."

Almost as if on queue the four additional figures in black from head to toe pulled their weapons. All around her red lightsabers activated and closed on her. She was torn between groaning in annoyance and screaming in anger. She settled for a huff of indignant snarling as she took a step forward.

"You are beginning to get on my nerves. You call me before you and have one of your lackeys bring me. Then you call me insolent? I've dealt with much worse than what you're throwing at me now."

Tara took steady paces towards the first of the Hand. He came forward, raising his lightsaber and Tara ducked quickly and turned, thrusting her elbow up into the man's abdomen. She felt his breath hitch and he hesitated which she took as an opportunity to stand straight. She slammed the top of her head into his chin and she grabbed his saber as he went falling back. Another turn and a quick slash sent the man falling dead to the floor.

The second was a smaller framed individual. This one was swift on their feet and preferred the quick motions of Form Three. Tara knew that Form Three could also mean they can use Form Five and so could she. She advanced on the guard and clashed their blades together, their feet doing and intricate dance along the marbled floor. Behind her the other two guards came forward and she barely had time to protect her back. She ducked down and side-swiped the man in front of her. He fell, tripping on her leg and she took his lightsaber. Stabbing him in the chest she concentrated the Force into her legs and leaped high into the air to get away from the last two.

Now armed with two sabers she felt a little closer to her comfort zone. Though preferring a double-bladed saber she would have to manage with dual-wielding. It only dawned on her then that all of this was set up so the Emperor could see her skills and what she was capable of. She glanced from the Emperor over to Vader and then to her opponents – two lay dead on the floor and the other two advancing on her. She was being made a fool of.

"I am not a source of entertainment." She deactivated the lightsabers and threw the hilts down to the floor. The remaining two guards looked down, uncertain of what was going on. In the brief moment Tara had used the Force to hide herself and she was behind them. With concentrated Force energy in her fists she hit both of the remaining guards on the nape of their necks. The blow to a sensitive portion of their bodies caused them to black out and fall to the floor unconscious, but not dead.

Taking a moment to collect herself, Tara took a breath and turned back towards the Emperor. She was in a foul mood and was done with his shenanigans. He looked more intrigued by her now, and partially wary still. Tara's headache was coming back.

Who are you?"

"My Lord," Vader said, now stepping forward. "Before you is Lord K'natara Synge. Her history is ancient, as is her heritage. You are looking at a descendant of the once great Lord Aloysius Kallig." Tara turned her head to Vader, half surprised that he had found _anything_ about her family history. "Her mother was Darth Nox, head of the Sphere of Ancient Knowledge within the Old Sith Empire."

This piqued the Emperor's interest and Tara watched as he leaned ever so slightly forward. It seemed like he knew his history if he was this interested and impressed. "Darth Nox, by my personal opinion, has to be the most intriguing Sith of old. She had survived the possession of her master but this left her mind broken—"

"And you have your history wrong, you prune." While Tara admitted that her relationship with her mother wasn't the _greatest_ in the galaxy, she didn't like it when people had facts wrong. If someone was going to talk about her mother they could at least say the right things. "Nox survived the possession but it was Thanaton who was after her when she inadvertently smushed her master's soul into that of one of her companions. In order to be strong enough to stop him from killing her she had to go and suck four Force ghosts into her and _that_ is what broke her mind."

"And you were born when this was occurring."

"Wrong again!" she growled. "Spast, who is teaching history nowadays? I was born when my mother was still under apprenticeship to her master. She was on mission on Balmorra when she met my father. I was… a burdened accident to her but I was the daughter of my father."

"I sense some anger in you from those memories."

"Of course you do. I'm not hiding these emotions. I've dealt with them before and I still do. Why do you care?"

"That is of no importance. Besides the fact you are quite powerful and surely quite adept I wanted to see you for myself. I needed to know if you could be trusted."

Tara lowered her eyes and suppressed a chuckle. Oh, the irony! "I see. Well, you saw my skill, saw my potential."

"Yes." The Emperor considered a few things as he eyed the woman and those scattered on the floor. She was skilled in the Force and very good at controlling herself. She could kill or maim without too much trouble. He would have to watch her closely. "Vader will be your immediate superior. He will watch your every move. Seeing as you come from the same faction as the rest of us, you are expected to uphold those ideals within my Empire. There is a rebellion growing and you are going to help squash it. Now go, Vader has his orders and he will brief you from there."

Tara looked at the Emperor, sitting comfortable on his throne. Her shields were up as well as his now and she intended to keep it that way for a long while. She had to allies anymore and considering she was standing in the Jedi Temple, she could safely assume they had to be long gone. As much as she hated playing by the rules she now knew she had to… for now.

* * *

Neither Tara nor Vader had spoken to one another from the moment the Emperor dismissed them to the moment where she was sitting across from him on his personal cruiser. She couldn't tell what was going on inside Vader's mind and she couldn't see his face to get an idea of what he was thinking. All she knew is that with the very brief meeting she had with the emperor she came to several conclusions.

"He hates people more powerful than he is," she said. "All of those _Hands_ , as you call them, are weak and held down on purpose because they could have easily taken me out in a match of four against one. It was not hard for me to kill two and knock out the other two. He's just as bad as Baras – Darth Fat Arse as Nat liked to call him."

"Who is this you speak of?"

"Wow, you spoke." Tara looked at Vader but he remained stoic. She shrugged. "She was my step-mother. She married my father and after that she was basically my unofficial master since she put a lightsaber blade in Baras' gut before the entire Dark Council. The creep was paranoid and while his schemes are very similar in nature to your so-called emperor, at least Baras' were founded on more than just being afraid."

She sat back in the chair and crossed one leg over the other and huffed. She was tired and her head was still throbbing with the headache from the encounter. "So, you're my boss now? I don't do well with superiors."

Vader pulled out a datapad and placed it on the table between them. He opened a small compartment in it and pulled a datachip from the object. The chip was placed into a computer connected to the table and a hologram of a very large ship appeared before Tara. Her eyebrows raised as she gave the man a skeptical look.

"This is the _Accuser_. It was commissioned a number of years ago and is now completed. She is currently making her way through the galaxy to pick you up here as I am going to make you the commander of this vessel and you will be in charge of those on it."

"Woah, hold on a minute." Tara waved her hands and sat forward, putting both feet on the ground. She rubbed her temples and looked at Vader. "You're putting me in charge of that ship? Why the spast are you doing that? You don't know me, you certainly can't trust me by now to do this. What makes you think I won't have it crashed?"

Vader studied her for a moment. She was a hothead, brash and strong and had a lot of potential. If anything she reminded him of the person he used to be a long time ago. Starkiller had similar characteristics. He entered a code into the computer input system and the hologram changed to that of a man looking to be in his thirties sporting the rank of captain.

"This is seriously messing with me, Vader. Why are you doing this?"

"Because I can. The Emperor put you under my watch, but he didn't tell me what to do with you. So I am making you my second-in-command. You will head this ship and you will abide by my orders and _only_ my orders." Vader deactivated the computer, took the chip from it and returned it to the datapad and slid it across the table to Tara. "Your orders are all there. Your missions and other operations are also there. Contacts, allies, anything you need is all there as well as the complete dossier of the _Accuser_ and all troops."

Tara reached over and hovered her hand over the datapad, her eyes on Vader for a long moment. She was still not sure about this. "You have a mission for me already?"

"There is a rebellion forming against the Empire. The details are all on your datapad, but the immediate mission is for you to kill the instigator and squash them before they can get the word out and gather more strength."

"Great, I get to go on a hunt for this instigator and I have to start by scratch? You have any idea how long that'll take me to get star—"

"I already know the identity of the instigator. It's Starkiller." Tara's form stiffened and she sat straighter in her chair, both appalled at the idea and partially not surprised. "The Emperor found out about him and he is to be dealt with. I am not going to do it as I have more important things to tend to. Intelligence uncovered a secret meeting on Corellia and I am sending you there to apprehend those conspirators and to kill Starkiller."

After a long moment of silence and reflection on Tara's end she finally stood up and snatched the datapad from the table and turned to leave the room. "It warms my heart to see that nothing has changed since my time."


	4. Time Displaced: Chapter 4

Only three days into the maiden voyage of the _Accuser_ did Captain Firmus Piett learn that the ship was going to be commanded by someone else other than Lord Vader, which was off of the original plan. To be honest the man felt a little put off about it as he was hand-picked by Lord Vader for promotion to captaincy and was offered this position on this ship by him personally. It was a great honor in Piett's book and he made it is mission in life to be the best naval officer he could.

Upon word from Lord Vader that a Lord Synge would be taking command of the ship in his place was a bit of a shock but learning that whoever this was answered only to Lord Vader Piett wasn't as disgruntled about the news... but he was worried. From his understanding of Sith and their ways of command and operations, and hearing the stories of Lord Vader himself when dealing with insubordination, Piett had made sure he had plenty of personnel request forms ready and filled out to replace those poor souls unlucky enough to upset the Sith commander they were expecting.

"You would think the commander would be on this ship from day one when it became operable at the Yards." Piett looked down into the port side crew pit at some of the members at their consoles. No doubt they were just as antsy as he was about the lack of a leader, not that this bothered him too much.

"Perhaps if we did our jobs and stopped worrying about our commander, maybe he would appear and be pleased that we are _working._ "

"The only problem with your assessment, Captain, is that your commander is a woman."

Piett's body stiffened as he turned on his heel to face the authoritative voice which sounded behind him. He was greeted by a young woman, dark wavy hair and intense green eyes bearing into him, who was wearing something _not_ of the standard naval uniform. The armor was all black and the breast plate was polished to a shine where he could see his reflection in it. Her trench coat was also black but had green threads holding it together at the seams. It was thick but it flowed around her ankles like a lighter fabric and resembled that of the old robes that used to be worn by the Jedi. This one looked better on her though.

"Apologies, my lady." He was relieved when she smiled in return.

"I understand, it's my fault for not communicating. I wanted to get settled and have some time to myself before I made myself known."

Piett raised an eyebrow. "You've been on the ship the whole time, ma'am?"

"Yes I have. It is my ship after all." Off to the side some of the officers in the pit turned their heads away from the two conversing senior officers and busied themselves with their work. Tara had to suppress an amused smirk. "Okay Captain, I'm sure you're aware of the orders from Lord Vader?"

Piett nodded and walked to a console on their level and punched in a code. The mission Vader had given to Tara came up with the details.

"The ship is fully stocked and has a few thousand more than the skeleton crew to run her. All members are hand chosen by myself and all qualifications are met with each personnel. Many of them are multi-specialist and can cover other areas of the ship if needed."

"Very good, Captain. Set course for just outside of the Corellian system. I'm going to catch myself a traitor to the Empire."

Tara stood at the head of the ship and looked out of the forward viewports. Captain Piett walked along the walkway and called commands and orders to the specialists and techs below. They punched away at their computers and Tara could feel the energy run through the ship to the engines. All in a blur the stars became streaks in the sky of lights as the ship burst forward into hyperspace. Piett came to her side.

"We should reach our destination in about two hours, ma'am."

"Very good. I would like to see you in my chambers."

Tara turned on her heel and left the bridge, Piett right behind her. Once within the privacy of her office she closed the door and offered Piett a seat, which he took. She settled herself at her desk and pulled up his personnel record.

"I'm impressed with your credentials, Captain," she said, looking over his record. "You're a graduate of the Military Academy at the top of your class, overachiever and general, all-around successful individual."

Piett didn't know what was going on and the sudden praise coming from a Sith was a little unnerving. He cleared his throat and thanked her. "Please, Captain, I'm not here to break you. Calm down."

That didn't particularly help. "My lady, why, may I ask, are we meeting? Are there issues you wish to discuss with me?"

"Not particularly." Tara sat back in her chair and looked at him. "Seeing as you're the highest senior officer of this ship below me, you are, more or less, my deputy. I like to know my partners and co-workers. If you and I can't get along then we're going to have trouble."

Piett nodded.

"Are you familiar with House Palatine?"

Piett was a little surprised. "House Palatine?" When she only looked at him it was pretty clear that he didn't mistake her. "Yes. It was a prominent Sith house many millennia ago. It was the head of the government of my home world, Axxila. Why do you ask? Are you familiar with it?"

Tara watched him. "Yes. My step-mother was from that planet. At the time she was the heiress to House Palatine. Do any members of the house remain?"

"No, ma'am. I'm sorry to say that the house was shifted away from politics a few hundred years ago. But until then it was going quite strong. Who was your step-mother?"

"Her name was Nathrrya Therin-Palatine."

"I am vaguely familiar with the name. I don't have history that goes that far back, but I'm sure I could find sources."

Piett had very little knowledge of his commander. The woman before him was not what he had been expecting when Lord Vader announced another person was taking his place at the helm above him. While Piett had full control of the ship and its crew, the commander was the one who called the shots. Piett could see why she would want to get to know him. If they were going to work together they had to trust one another. He calmed down more knowing this and Tara smiled, seeing him relax.

"Well, come on Piett. I'm sure you have questions for me." She leaned forward and shoed intent to listen.

"Where did you come from, my lady?" It was mildly pathetic but it was the best he could come up with. It's a good place to start as any.

Tara reached into her coat and pulled a data chip from her pocket and putting it before the captain. "Anything I say can be looked up in that file from when I was discovered," she said. "I was born on Dromund Kaas a very long time ago. While I haven't had a chance to figure out exactly how old I am now, I can assure you it's ancient."

Piett took the chip and pocketed it for later use. He made a mental note to review the data on the chip since she was very agreeable to him having it.

"My father was a naval officer, top of his class. He'd been a lieutenant based on Balmorra before my step-mother met him. He followed her off that forsaken rock when he asked her for a position on her ship. After a while she sent in her recommendation for his captaincy."

"He sounds like a very hard-working individual."

Tara smiled thinking back. "He was. He loved what he did, he was a true patriot to the Empire. Despite the circumstances he found himself in regarding me and my half-sister he never once said he regretted any decision regarding us. He did regret sleeping with my mother, but he loved me, I think, more than his first child."

There was a moment of silence between the two and Piett watched his commanding officer with kind eyes and some understanding. For whatever reason, deep within him, there was a spark of something akin to camaraderie and in a few short moments of communication he felt he really could trust this woman with his life and his crew. Perhaps he was jumping a little to soon on his assessment, but he was good at reading people… except for Lord Vader.

"Piett, there is still much more we could talk about, but the bottom line is that if you fulfill your duties aboard this ship and you keep your people in line you will not have any issues with me, nor I with you or your crew. We are all here on the same terms as everyone else and all I ask is for loyalty and efficiency."

Piett stood from his seat and went to attention, raising his hand in a salute. "You shall have it, ma'am. I pride myself on my abilities and you will not have trouble."

Tara stood and returned the gesture out of respect for him. "Thank you, Captain. You may return to your post. I have preparations to make before we reach our destination."

* * *

With the _Accuser_ set to idle just outside of the Corellain system Tara was waking her way to the hangar, her mind racing a hundred miles an hour. Within the two hours of travel and after she had dismissed Piett from her office she received an untraceable, coded message from an unknown source. Tara's sister had taught her some tricks to decoding messages of such nature, and she had a run-in or two with Theron Shan to have a decent knowledge of the subject. She didn't have to unravel the entire code to know that she was being played.

 _To be thoroughly honest, you should have known better, Tara._

The brunette snarled her displeasure at the sound of Nathrrya's voice in her head – her mind was playing her too, it seems, by berating her using Nathrrya's voice.

"Yeah, Nat, well forgive me for thinking that things have changed." She quickly closed her mouth as she rounded the corner and a group of soldiers came through on patrol, saluting her as they passed. She looked behind her and kept going on her route. "I guess I'm delusional into thinking it has. Sounds like I'm changing my plan."

She finally arrived at the hangar to see a few crewmen working on her personal transport – a vessel she affectionately named the _Emerald Shard._ It was a lightly modified singular transport that had small but powerful blaster cannons on each side of the cockpit and it was small enough to be highly maneuverable and large enough for her to have a fresher and a bunk with enough provisions for a few months at a time in space. Upon her request she had the vessel painted a light silver-green with a matte finish. By all means it wasn't spectacular but she had a small place in her heart for the ship when she first saw it. It may not be the _Violet Rose_ but it would suit her.

Captain Piett came up to her side as she entered the hangar and they walked together towards the ship.

"Everything is prepared for you, ma'am. You have clearance to disembark whenever you're ready."

"Thank you, Piett. Once I'm planet-side wait for my signal to send the backup crew to apprehend the traitor."

"Yes, ma'am!"

Tara boarded her transport and settled herself at the controls in the cockpit. Like clockwork she flipped switches, pushed buttons and listened as the vessel came to life around her with the gentle hum of the engines. The lift was fully secured with the door locked in place and she released the ship from its holding bay and took off through the opening in the _Accuser._ Once clear of the ship she punched in the coordinates needed and took off into hyperspace once again to make the final trek to Corellia.

The trip she was on would take her about forty minutes to complete. After ten minutes she sent the message to Piett to launch the backup team and then closed the connection between her and her crew. Opening a new one she reached out and stopped, her hand hovering over the controls. After a moment she pulled back and leaned in her chair to stare at the ceiling of her ship.

It wasn't often that she complained about moving too fast. She enjoyed being quick to the punches, the first at the front of the line, and so forth. Nathrrya had one too many near-misses going after her to slow her down and Tara had to smile. But she thought about the coded message she got and contemplated her next move.

 _Palpatine has to go,_ she thought to herself. That was the bottom line. The message she had received said the same thing – that a rebellion was forming against the Empire and there were key contributors meeting on Corellia that would form this alliance with systems that felt the same way. Honestly, Tara wouldn't mind throwing her hands up and joining them.

 _Tara, you know as well as I that that_ prune _is terrible._ She chuckled and then shook her head. Her mind had been speaking up more and more and it felt like Nathrrya was in her head the whole time. It was… unsettling and upsetting. A pang of grief welled in her chest and made its way up to her throat and she had to choke it down.

She had time for that nonsense later. The alert on her computer let her know she was nearing her destination and she took manual controls to guide her ship out of hyperspace just as Corellia came into view. Almost immediately the first thing she felt was Starkiller.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** I want to take a moment and thank everyone who's come to check out my story. I want to thank everyone who's fav'ed this story and thank those who have left reviews as well. These are very much appreciated and I'm very happy that I am writing something you all enjoy. I know I've been pretty slow in updating this story. Please bear with me, because I do plan to see this through to the end and Tara is itching me to keep going. However, I work a lot of hours and I have very little personal time to write. This is the reason for the long periods between chapters and irregular updates. ~ I hope you all enjoy this chapter and I look forward to seeing you all in the next one!


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